[FO:E] Fallout Equestria OOC 2: Ante-Up My Little Ponies

[Luka]

Luka, is 'post order' a phrase that means nothing to ye?

I'm trying to make sure I can properly reply to posts tonight, but its being hard to do when the scene changes abruptly to another thing. Swift Star would have had some action for when Luka tried to attack him, and then a refresh later...he's (Luka) off galloping off somewhere, among other things.


;_;

OH nononono! that's just a response to Rebo's alicorn! he's still galloping towards Swift!... Actually, in fact I meant he finished what he was saying when he was standing up to charge at Swift again.

....Ugh, I should try to be more descriptive when making posts, I do them more or less in a hurry.

Editing to make it a bit more clear... Eh, I never really used "Post order" except when others just put a list with it.... just waited for others to say something

[TheAmishPirate]

....And playing "an average joe that's just from the crowd" ain't exactly fun for me, you know... Except when it involves screwing that and just pwning armies anyways without needing to be a chosen one.

You're not. You're one step above the average joe. Most folks don't decide to pick up a gun and start wandering the wastes. Average joes are most of what you fight, for varying degrees of "joe" and "average". If you play smart, know when to run, and know when to take those risks, you'll find yourself getting a few steps higher. Better yet, build up support, build up a party, and you'll actually have a nice little powerful group.

The difference here is that the Courier and other such main characters are something around dozens upon dozens of steps above average joes. Possibly hundreds. Either way, it's a lot. The point being that, if you play your cards right, you won't be just some weak mook in the crowd. At the same time, you won't be a hax overpowered main character, and acting like one is just going to prevent you from reaching what power you can achieve.

[Benson]

OH nononono! that's just a response to Rebo's alicorn! he's still galloping towards Swift!... Actually, in fact I meant he finished what he was saying when he was standing up to charge at Swift again.

....Ugh, I should try to be more descriptive when making posts, I do them more or less in a hurry.

Alright, thank you for the confirmation.
---

Anyways, on other stuff, I am rather amused by DJ-Pon3's rather exaggerated depiction of Fox Trot the alicon slayer, cough. That will go to his head nicely.

[TheAmishPirate]

Wait, I'm a mite confused. Elestre just had that big inner monologue of how he wasn't going to give up, how he was going to stay there until his friends needed him, how even if he was useless, he was still going to keep trying and eventually make the Wasteland a better place. Then the alicorn talks to him, and he...gives up?

I'm not trying to be overly critical, I'm just legitimately baffled.

EDIT: Minor rant about ponies joining Unity:

Spoiler

Show

I think after Ebon, I don't want to see more ponies just give up hope and join Unity. He had the whole 'deal with the Goddess' to uphold, and I really didn't see any other end for his arc, but joining purely out of hopelessness strikes me as an incredibly Bad End for a character. Things go terrible, they're in a bad spot, and instead of climbing out of it and growing as a result, they flee to Unity so they don't have to deal with life anymore. As a result, their minds and personalities are permanently altered and they lose most of their free will, effectively killing off whoever they once were. To me, that's incredibly depressing, and I see that as a horrible ending for a character. I know it will happen to some ponies based on character and circumstance, and that's alright, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Yeah, this makes my above point about Elestre completely biased, but there you have it. I just really, really wanted to see some heroes start to grow out of all the wreckage from Old Appleousa, instead of more tragedies.

PS: If there are going to be one-off ponies that will try and rescue Elestre later, I'd like to put my name down now. This has sparked a lot of good ideas, and I think I can channel them into a group of characters who stand a chance of changing Elestre's life for the better.

(Fair warning, I just got woken up early by road work crews, so I'm hoping my thoughts came out at least semi-coherent)

[Rebonack]

O_o

I wasn't actually expecting Elestre to buy Metis' honeyed words. His inner monolog really suggested that he would throw it back in her face. Regardless, he's got plenty of time to change his mind. Metis is a Green, which means she can't just poof anypony away. And swooping in and grabbing Elestre right away might not work out.

's not a done deal yet.

Also: Alicorns can't read minds unless they prod somepony with their horn. Only the Goddess or several greens using synchronized telepathy can do that at a distance. But Elestre isn't aware alicorn telepathy is only one way =P

[Drowlord]

Oh, no, he's not giving up. He just accepts help from anything that can throw it his way. Up to and including alicorns. But yes, he's really not going to accept. Giving him some time to work it out on his own that the alicorn's offer isn't as good as it sounds. That he needs to be strong himself.

Yes, Elestre doesn't know alicorns can only do one-way messages. So silly of him.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Umm, Drowlord? Has Elestre given any thought to what turning into an evil alicorn would make his sister cousin think?

[TheAmishPirate]

Yes, Elestre doesn't know alicorns can only do one-way messages. So silly of him.

And thus, he spends the next five minutes thinking as loudly as possible. Clearly, the alicorn is just hard of hearing.

Thanks for clearing that up. Makes a bit more sense now.

[PurityIcekiller]

Umm, Drowlord? Has Elestre given any thought to what turning into an evil alicorn would make his sister cousin think?

*chuckles* Given what good judges of character his relatives seem to be, I don't think they'd mind too much.

Don't mind her. She's still a little sore about being left for and outed to evil monsters a couple times.

[Drowlord]

Umm, Drowlord? Has Elestre given any thought to what turning into an evil alicorn would make his sister cousin think?

He has, but hopes that he could help her even as an alicorn.

And thus, he spends the next five minutes thinking as loudly as possible. Clearly, the alicorn is just hard of hearing.

Thanks for clearing that up. Makes a bit more sense now.

Telepathing? At the moment, he just thinks she hasn't gotten the message yet and it might take some time.

Thinking a loudly as possible... Why must this make me laugh so hard?

[Dark Elf Bard]

Uh, don't they lose their memories, though?

She would be happy with him if he was or wasn't a alicorn, but I think they lose their memories.

[Lycan 01]

Speaking of Elestre's cousin, Dark Elf Bard, shouldn't you be posting a response to... anything? I seriously have no idea where you character is in all this, and I doubt the other players/Rebo know either. It's like she's dropped off the face of the earth.

[Rebonack]

"Evil? You think Us evil? We do what We do for the good of ponykind. Imagine you find a pony dying of radiation sickness and you have RadAway to spare. But upon tasting it the vile potion convinces the pony that you are trying to poison them. Do you submit to the pony's delusion and allow them to die? Or do you force the cure upon them to save their life? This is the choice Unity is faced with. And We will continue to save ponies despite being hated for it."

Anoma is good at pitching for Unity! Taking her word for it may or may not be wise.

The alicorns don't lose their memories. Rather their memories are incorporated into the Dream of Unity, a sort of collective memory. A pony has trouble recalling which pony they were before becoming part of Unity because they remember being all of them.

IN UNRELATED NEWS!

Changeling holes are akin to zebra stripes in that they are unique to each changeling. However, like zebras, changelings have a few holes that are consistent between all individuals.

[TheAmishPirate]

Uh, don't they lose their memories, though?

She would be happy with him if he was or wasn't a alicorn, but I think they lose their memories.

Yes and no, if my understanding is correct.

They do keep their memories, however, they just become one set of memories tucked away in the whole of Unity. Without a real sense of identity, it's nigh impossible to pick out the memories of their old life. If they should become separated from Unity, then their old memories will gradually bubble to the surface again.

However, this is where the 'no' comes in. Once they are a part of Unity, their soul/mindset/whatever is fundamentally altered. Whatever goals and ambitions they might've had gets overridden by the Goddess' will. If they came into Unity thinking "I will help such and such a person once I'm an alicorn", after their transformation, they will instead only want to do whatever the Goddess asks of them. Even after becoming separated, they still apparently retain some knowledge of their last orders. This is tricky with some of the insane ones (see Mesmer for an example of that), but that's generally how it seems to work.

@Purity: Night Jewel is noted, and very much approved of.

@Rebonack: With my name, it's really no big surprise that I am constantly ninja'd.

[Luka]

"Evil? You think Us evil? We do what We do for the good of ponykind. Imagine you find a pony dying of radiation sickness and you have RadAway to spare. But upon tasting it the vile potion convinces the pony that you are trying to poison them. Do you submit to the pony's delusion and allow them to die? Or do you force the cure upon them to save their life? This is the choice Unity is faced with. And We will continue to save ponies despite being hated for it."

Anoma is good at pitching for Unity! Taking her word for it may or may not be wise.

"....I do not approve of you attempts at giving good publicity to yourselves; you're not giving RadAway, you're entirely changing them into somepony else, most of the time into something just plain worse that I don't want to go back into!"

It may make Gleamy encountering Anoma somewhat interesting
....I got to make her character sheet, I think I may be going to do it a bit later though....

*looks at Benson's post*
AW C'MON! I wanted my gun back!! Why did Elestre have to be bardy at that exact moment??!

[Rebonack]

Which is an interesting stance to take. The Goddess makes mental modifications to her alicorns such that thoughts like 'the Goddess is evil' or 'Unity is wrong' aren't even physically possible. Alicorns can't remember being changed given that they don't remember specifically who they were before joining Unity.

It seems like Gleamy has been sundered for long enough that the Dream of Unity has faded completely. So the only memories that would be left are her own. But her own memories are apparently all discombobulated as well? I have no idea what's up with her.

When Mesmer was freed she took off on her own mostly because she has other things prodding at her insane mind. Nightseer is in much the same boat. Star Metal was one of the ingredients in the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion and without the Goddess' presence it leaves some alicorns dangerously open to whispers from beyond the moon.

[Luka]

I.... Haven't thought that she was that old, mostly that the memories she had sealed resurfaced after being sundered and they possibly had hints for taking that stance. I've mostly thought she's been sundered for 2 days or so until finding Xithr.

But she mostly just remembers vague memories about Friendship and Harmony, possibly learned from a book or something, they could turn into her "cause and ideals", then maybe she could become a bit more "Fawkish" than shy if she finds out about the things more.

But mostly: she remembers that within some of her unsealed memories, what the Unity did (and she did while in it) was bad and wrong, and doesn't like how the rest acted like doing it was ok. Possibly the Mind-seal's explosion altered the mind tweak too, or the resurfaced memories too

[Rebonack]

If she had only been sundered for a few days then the Dream of Unity would still be very prominent in her mind. Nightseer and the alicorns with her have been AWOL for nearly a month now and the Goddess is getting antsy about figuring out what they're up to. That's plenty of time for the Dream of Unity to have become little more than a vague memory.

The Dream was full of memories of ponies believing that Unity was bad or evil or wrong or what have you. That would hardly be unique. But when they undergo the apotheosis they have a sudden 'enlightenment' that such thoughts were unfounded. Eg, the Goddess messing with their minds to ensure that they will be loyal.

The only thing I can think of is that there was something wrong with Gleamy's transformation and the usual mental conditioning didn't stick. Otherwise it would be impossible for her to believe that what Unity does is wrong. That would mean the usual 'The Goddess' will is our will' conditioning wouldn't have stuck either. Gleamy would have been an irritant within Unity. A blemish on their solidarity in purpose. Like a rock in your shoe that you can't seem to get out.

I suspect she was sent to Canterlot to be sundered intentionally >_>

[MCerberus]

I suspect Sven will, at the end of this, come to a realization: crazy bubbly happy mares are often good at murder.

[Lycan 01]

I was actually thinking about the "Buyer Beware" quest earlier. No one got any reward from it because no one completed it. In fact, it's much more closer to failure than it is to completion. So, uh, yeah. No XP for that.




And yes, Sven is in for a rude surprise, which Sprinkles totally just set him up for.

[PurityIcekiller]

Which quest are you referring to? I don't understand it when you put it in those terms.

EDIT: Oh, never mind. Well, some of us are still trying to work towards completing it.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Speaking of Elestre's cousin, Dark Elf Bard, shouldn't you be posting a response to... anything? I seriously have no idea where you character is in all this, and I doubt the other players/Rebo know either. It's like she's dropped off the face of the earth.

Nope, she's been pinging cans.

And I haven't posted for her because it's going to be a surprise to the RGF when they find out somepony beat her up.

...Gave it away, didn't I?

[Tychris1]

Freaking finally got power from a laptop (And a shoddy connection) i'll try to catch up and patch something out but right now my posting will be sporadic until someone moves that CELESTIA FORSAKEN BUCKING TREE OUT OF THE POWER LINES

*Sigh*

Anyway, I'll drop a post soon and maybe even make up for lost time.

[Luka]

If she had only been sundered for a few days then the Dream of Unity would still be very prominent in her mind. Nightseer and the alicorns with her have been AWOL for nearly a month now and the Goddess is getting antsy about figuring out what they're up to. That's plenty of time for the Dream of Unity to have become little more than a vague memory.

The Dream was full of memories of ponies believing that Unity was bad or evil or wrong or what have you. That would hardly be unique. But when they undergo the apotheosis they have a sudden 'enlightenment' that such thoughts were unfounded. Eg, the Goddess messing with their minds to ensure that they will be loyal.

The only thing I can think of is that there was something wrong with Gleamy's transformation and the usual mental conditioning didn't stick. Otherwise it would be impossible for her to believe that what Unity does is wrong. That would mean the usual 'The Goddess' will is our will' conditioning wouldn't have stuck either. Gleamy would have been an irritant within Unity. A blemish on their solidarity in purpose. Like a rock in your shoe that you can't seem to get out.

I suspect she was sent to Canterlot to be sundered intentionally >_>

More or less

I actually thought the mindsplosion somewhat interfered with the mental conditioning and threw her unconciouss while transforming, and may have been different and an irritant just like Uncle Leo and Fawkes

Though, I dunno if the goddess could have intentionally sent her to sundering instead of fidling with her until she liked it (maybe did, but didn't work, possibly making her even more annoying ) ; but yeah, she would have been annoying for the rest of the alicorns in some way, at least slightly... Heh, maybe that would make her encounter with them slightly more amusing and maybe cause random questions between Unity, like "If Unity is supposed to be for everypony, then how comes she's been in it and didn't like it?"

[Rebonack]

Another possibility: Gleamy has some distant zebra ancestor. In Real Life a zony would be infertile, but this is the magical land of Equestria after all.

Zebras are incomparable with Unity. And so distant zebra relatives might make it so Gleamy can undergo the apotheosis, but can't fully integrate with Unity. Would certainly explain why it seemed to wrong to her.

[Luka]

Another possibility: Gleamy has some distant zebra ancestor. In Real Life a zony would be infertile, but this is the magical land of Equestria after all.

Zebras are incomparable with Unity. And so distant zebra relatives might make it so Gleamy can undergo the apotheosis, but can't fully integrate with Unity. Would certainly explain why it seemed to wrong to her.

Mmm.... Possibly?

I mostly just thought that Gleamy was a normal pony unicorn before being unified, then the spell he/she casted caused interference in the process, then her to not fit with the rest of the alicorns. I don't really know, seems like it could be? but seems to also clash with her having been just a normal unicorn that could be unified like the rest, so dunno

[Rebonack]

Considering that the Goddess is made up of four of the most magically gifted unicorns to ever live I suspect the Goddess would have been able to find a work-around to the spell if indeed a spell was the only thing standing in the way.

Spells can be unwoven given sufficient study and magical aptitude. And the Goddess possess both of those skills in spades. This is more than just some hidden memories as was originally talked about. Being able to resist the Goddess' post-Unity mental conditioning is huge.

Honestly a zebra great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-(ect) grandparent would be the most sensible solution as it would fit well with what we know of Unity from FO:E canon. And having a distant zebra ancestor hardly makes someone not a normal pony. Under most circumstances it wouldn't even be noticed.

[Lycan 01]

Nope, she's been pinging cans.

And I haven't posted for her because it's going to be a surprise to the RGF when they find out somepony beat her up.

...Gave it away, didn't I?

...what?


Okay, time-out.


First of all, I meant the cousin on the train, not Eledwhen. You still have posted in over a week with the mare on the train, and we have no idea where she is or what her condition is. Considering that you never posted anything to say otherwise, she's probably among the slaves who got rounded up and tossed back on the train.


As for Eledwhen...


Okay, this is a problem. Who beat her up? Because the only groups that would beat her up are slavers and raiders. Slavers would have beaten her up, and then carried her off to Old Appleloosa. Raiders................. okay, if it was raiders, she's dead, and it wasn't a very nice death.


So, uh, you might not wanna say she got beat up, unless you want her to be a prisoner or a corpse.

[Tychris1]

"MY JERK PARENT SENSES ARE TINGLING! Activat the Orbital Chimera Cannon!"
*Gets loaded into a cannon in space*
*Obliterates Raiders*

Sorry, as much as Lamianos would like to do that, he can't. Which means Eldewhen would be on her own and have to either be in Lycan's situations, or she'd have to have won the fight by a very slim margin *COUGH*gun*COUGH*.

[Lycan 01]

"MY JERK PARENT SENSES ARE TINGLING! Activat the Orbital Chimera Cannon!"
*Gets loaded into a cannon in space*
*Obliterates Raiders*

Sorry, as much as Lamianos would like to do that, he can't. Which means Eldewhen would be on her own and have to either be in Lycan's situations, or she'd have to have won the fight by a very slim margin *COUGH*gun*COUGH*.

Let's be realistic here. A little pegasus filly who's just now learning how to shoot, vs a pack of armed and experienced slavers or raiders. The odds are grossly stacked against her.